Aincrad
by Kirya-chan
Summary: It was always on the same road that she would decide her fate every morning on the same sidewalk. With a rebellious mother that died from cancer and a father she never met Naya is the disgrace of her family. SAO was supposed to be her sanctuary, until she's trapped like many others in the deadly game. Naya, the outcast standing on the road, decides to survive and maybe find love?
1. I - The Road Of Crossing Destinies

Me: Um...hi? Ah I'm shitting my pants!

COM: We're on live dumbass.

Me: Oh...COM gimme paper.

COM: (gives paper)

Me: So I'm happy to present my new story out of the many I'm counting to publish in the next weeks and all of this just because of an annoying plot Bunny that won't leave me to finish my other stories.

COM: Yo I'm the partner, check the profile or detailed information or just out of curiosity like usual.

Me: I hope this is gonna work! Sword Art Online should have more fics well there are a lot but I just thought adding mine would contribute to the fandom.

COM: Enjoy before the copyright freaks arrive to take us out for good.

* * *

**Aincrad**

_I – THE ROAD OF CROSSING DESTINIES_

_When you land in an orphanage it means your parentless._

_When you're adopted it means that the two people you see everyday aren't related to you._

_When you don't land in an orphanage but you are parentless it means you're a lost cause._

_When you're taken in by family relatives that love you the same as parents it means that the people you see everyday no matter how kind they are remind you of your missing parents._

_When you're taken in by family relatives that never wanted to hear from you it means that the people you see everyday and make you seem invisible are related to you by blood._

_In my case, my mother married a man I never met. My father then left us with mom suffering from cancer. When she died I was given to the family that never approved of my parents' union._

_My mother wanted to be free, as a result she left her daughter as the disgrace of the family._

**November 06 2022 – Oxford, England**

A figure was running down the streets, the hordes of late workers and shoppers slowing down its progression on one of Oxford's many main roads. Halting at the end of the sidewalk, the girl looked up at the red light then back at the passing cars. The city was buzzing with its usual traffic but time seemed to stop for her as the green sign finally lighted up, giving autorisation to cross the road.

But her feet stayed rooted to the ground, her body not showing any sign of moving forward or even backwards. She kept her mouth shut even when impatient passers ordered her to move or even shoved her out of the way in their rush. Like every morning, the girl was there. Her mind filled with the wonder of skipping school like the previous days of this year. It was always decided on this spot, on this little tile on the same sidewalk. Her life had always been filled with decisions and sadly they ended up being all mistakes.

When she decided to go to school yesterday, the bullies stole her books and dirtied her uniform with their food. If she had skipped, maybe she wouldn't have gotten punished back at home by her aunt that had coincidently a bad hair day and work day to top up the woman's horrible mood. She clutched her bag's strap over her shoulder tighter, patting with the other hand the pocket with the money for the fees of her stolen books.

When she decided to skip for the first time and hid in the park a police officer found her and asked her to show her identity card. That day she also thought she wouldn't need it and it ended up with a trip at the station and her aunt locking the brunette in her room with no supper. She touched her wavy locks that fell all the way to her mid back and dreamed of how long they would be now if she hadn't made another mistake that came to add itself to the endless pile.

It was when she decided to try and please her family members by making the cake for her little cousin's birthday but sadly she didn't make it passed the baking as the dough exploded in her face. That day they cut her hair with very unskillful hands to get the dough out and canceled her own birthday to punish her for breaking the oven.

Finally, as her emerald green eyes gazed at a flashing red sports car did she remember her worst mistake. The wind blowing through her dark blue uniform only making the memory all too clearer in her foggy mind.

The day when she decided to jump on this very road to hug the only being that opened his arms to her, she didn't do it. She refused to cuddle in Death's embrace and now knew that the pitiful girl she was would never gather that same determination again. Nor the courage to cross that bridge still stretching far ahead but her feet unable to guide her through it.

Naya closed her eyes and when they opened again she followed one of the many crowds across the road. She was the girl that cried with a face devoid of tears on this very road where she decides her fate every morning at the same hour. And each time the digital clock of the convenient store switches to a new number, a different future is traced.

There is a saying that speaks of how one needs to decide their own destiny and create their own path to the future. In the most twisted of ways it was all too true for her.

"_Sword Art Online, the new VRMMORPG will make its grand opening today at 5:00 PM sharp. This new game created by the all too famous japanese inventor Kayaba Akihiko is surely the first step to crossing the limit of reality and techonology. The game was sold to only 10,000 players in the whole world and introduces Mr. Kayaba's other long awaited creation: the Nerve Gear!"_

The news continued to a report about education and Naya smiled, at least she had something else to dream about now. Crossing the road today brought something interesting for once and she had the hopeful feeling that today's decision might be the first good one she ever made.

* * *

Students of many ages entered the gates of an imposing building, all the while chatting with fellow classmates and even in the crowd of unfamiliar faces Naya still felt like she shouldn't even be here at all. Call it teenage drama but she dubbed it her life a long time before her days in high school even started. She was fifteen and reaching her sixteen years of age, she would have to be cautious at home and work harder in class to expect a party or decent gift. She didn't have friends for moral suport and a boyfriend was out of the question when you were considered Gasper's "sister". She didn't have an attractive body either despite her younger cousin complimenting her with words as "cute" or "you'll be my girlfriend when we're older right?". The little boy was probably the only one that talked to her outside campus but she knew it was only wishful thinking of her part to consider that he won't change when reaching his teenage years. Her aunt was that manipulative.

Naya opened her locker after her silent trip through the corridors and got out the books she still owned. She tried, she really did. She had been forgiving and optimistic about her family's behavior and brushed it off as discomfort. Her sudden arrival in the household was bound to cause tension and back as a child she understood that.

But then, why did the bad treatements never ended?

She knew why and her aunt had firmly got the message through her skull at her arrival.

Naya was a disgrace and a nuisance to the world. She couldn't even hate her father for leaving her like this, that was the only thing about herself she loathed.

The brunette was too forgiving, too kind for her own good. Her mother had left that of herself before passing away from that incurable illness back at the time when cancer was feared. Now, in 2022, if they were able to create a virtual world then you can already presume mortal diseases weren't feared anymore. Most of them if you want to have the truth in details.

The bell rang announcing the beginning of the first period and she sat down not bothering to take her fingerless black gloves off. She set her bag between her legs though, she didn't want to risk it being victim of the usual daily pranks. Naya braced herself and closed one eye as she opened the drawer where the keyboard for the computer was placed.

Her eyes widened as a frog jumped on her lap and some girls shrieked at the sight of the slimy animal. A group of boys burst into rounds of laughter as they gave each other high fives.

"Knew they were suspicious," she muttered and sighed picking up the frightened frog while displaying one of her warmest smiles.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out," she assured and stood up, her classmates scurrying out of her way to avoid contact with both disgusting rejects. She opened the window and was glad she was on the ground floor, she didn't want to think what she would have done if her usual misfortune was on her side. Leave the classroom and get grounded probably. Th girl lifted what she guessed was a male up to her face again and stroke him.

"You're free," she whispered and let him jump off her palm. She shouted encouraging words to him as he crossed the road and sighed in relief when the little fellow reached the wood's safety.

"Look at that, even her prince ran away," one of the unpleased prankers scoffed. "To think we combined our awesome matchmaking skills for you Percevy and what do you do? Throw them down the drain," another commented and a newborned wave of laughter echoed through the room once again. She smiled sweetly and they stopped.

"It was very nice of you but you should try to use them on yourselves first," she adviced and some students made loud "ooooohhhh"s towards the group of flustered teens.

"What's all this ruckus about! Percevy close that window and the others sit down!" the teacher ordered snapping them all out of their world and they hurriedly complied to the man's demand.

Naya Percevy, a first name that sounds japanese and all in an english mix. What a good combination.

* * *

The road where she took today's dreadful decision was less crowded than in the morning. The rush hour long passed and students were now the ones roaming around the city to go to their afternoon classes or simply back home. Naya passed by the electronic store once again and squinted her eyes at the screen. She sighed in disapointment, no talks on SAO. She instead decided to enter the shop, breaking her usual routine. Normally she would stand infront of the road to stare at the few passing cars and ponder on today's decision and what went wrong. It was at this moment of time the complete opposite and she found herself browsing through the many computers and devices with a new found courage to face life.

For the first time in her monochrome life, she made a good decision.

The brunette then stopped dead in her tracks as her eyes caught sight of a poster showing a floating castle. "Aincrad" was written in white letters and the title of her new game interest right under it. Her tin rosy lips curled into a grin as she hurried towards a employee that was currently lifting a heavy looking television onto the shelves. She scratched the back of her head in thought, now hesitating to ask when it was obvious the guy was already in great pain.

"Need something?" he asked rather harshly and she flinched. His eyes then widened and he instantly apologized, putting the TV back on the floor. Naya now feeling guilty for wasting a worker's precious time poundered on the idea of dismissing herself but her build up determination was still bubbling inside her and she inhaled sharply.

"I'm sorry for bothering but do you sell the game Sword Art Online?" she politely asked with a tint of excitement that didn't go unoticed by the middle aged man.

"Sorry but the last one was sold two months ago," he answered giving her a sympathetic look. Naya's jaw almost dropped but she instead widened her eyes in disbelief.

"Oh...I see," was the only thing that escaped her lips and she turned around uttering a barely audible thanks as her feet already carried her towards the exit. A bright idea then miraculously popped out in her depressed mind and the grin was on her face once again.

"Are there new stocks coming by any chance sir?" Naya inquired trying to sound nonchalant, like any answer he gave didn't matter.

"No, there were only 10,000 copies made afterall," said the man and her shoulders slumped down in defeat.

"Ah...well have a nice day." She bid farewell to the shopkeeper and made her way out in the streets and across the road, for the first time not stopping on the slightly detached tile and instead heading home right away. The girl walked some more and left the busy part of town to step in a quiet neighborhood with big and luxurious houses scattered around the place. After some turns she finally reached her destination and rung the bell. She waited now feeling the anxiousness creeping into her and the intercom buzzed before steady breathing was heard.

"Yes?" came the familiar voice of the house maid. "Tina, it's Naya. I'm back from school."

After introducing herself the gates opened and she stepped in the large driveway not without hearing a "welcome home miss" from Tina. She briefly glanced at the three cars parked in the open garage and concluded with dread that all the family members were back early.

That didn't mean anything good for her. It's true she was regularly neglected but she never suffered from physical abuse. They simply ignored her, only talking when necessary.

When her shoes made contact with the lawn though, she felt cold water abruptly pour itself on her and she glared at the girl on the stairs leading to the front door.

"Very funny Marcelyn," said Naya sarcasticly and loudly enough for her slightly older cousin to hear.

"Glad you dropped back to Earth," Marcelyn replied with fake happiness. "Or maybe leaving you up there to never see you again wouldn't have been so bad," she added but the brunette payed her no mind and simply passed the blond on her way up.

"Oh and would you mind playing with Arthur after the meeting?" she asked but then chuckled. "Silly me of course you will."

Naya continued her ascension without sparing the other a glance and stepped through the wide open door. A family meeting, she had completely zapped that part. Now that she was reaching sixteen and Marcelyn eighteen they had to decide who would inherit her own mother's heritage. Yes, her deceased mother had been previously chosen as the next head of the family and since she was technicly the "disgrace" they disowned her. Being her guardians they had the right to do that.

Sick isn't it?

"Ah Naya, we were waiting for you."

The voice of her aunt snapped her out of her little cloud and she winced at the hateful gaze currently being sent her way. All the hate previously directed to her mom and dad were now falling onto her except ten times worse.

* * *

"Since Mary's death, god bless her soul, our family's business has been striving to keep up with the new inventions of the other competing companies," Naya's grandfather said and she supressed a yawn. The meeting had been going for a while now and Arthur was growing restless on his seat. She tuned out the conversation and instead focused on her younger cousin. She didn't care about the heritage, they could just go rot for all she cared. That was the only thing she didn't want to have the burden to carry and hopefully her status in the family will come in usefull for once. Being what she is, they wouldn't intrust her with anything and when she'll reach eighteen she would leave this hell once and for all. That was her little selfish dream, could you blame her? Why would she do anything for a family that actually never cared for her? She was kind and forgiving but dragging her into the family business as marchandise would be crossing the line.

"Naya, it's over soon?" he asked with big adorable eyes and she smiled. "Yeah normally," the girl answered but she truthfully wasn't sure how much longer they'll have to stay rooted on those chairs. Even Marcelyn was starting to twitch from obvious discomfort.

"Listen all, this is the arrangements that I with the rest of the representatives decided would be best for our flourishing industry to continue prospering at the top," her aunt declared and they oddly silenced now eager to hear the results. For the others that is, Naya was mostly impatient to get her butt out of here and up to her sanctuary that was her bedroom.

"Arthur has been chosen as the next heir to the company when he'll reach his majority," she started and her eyes widened. She now felt pity for the boy that was cluelessly looking at each of them to find out why his name was called. Marcelyn had her hands balled into fists but her features were constricted into a false tender smile towards her little brother.

"Marcelyn, you will be in charge of our cosmetic department. Is that okay?" the older woman inquired and the blond nodded a sweet smile plastered on her face. The result of years of training Naya guessed.

"Of course, I'll be honored," she agreed earning herself a proud and curt nod from her mother. "As for Naya..."

The brunette cut in. "What? Wasn't I disowned?"

"Silence child," her uncle ordered with a threatening glare and she frowned, too used to this harsh treatement to be intimidated.

"You will marry the heir of Cyberdeck Industries, you hold a passion for the electronic don't you?" she stated and her eyes widened like saucers. "This will largely benefit us..."

"Benefit? BENEFIT! You got to be kidding! You fucking want to marry me off!" she yelled in fury startling the occupants of the room.

"Watch your tone young lady!" the other snapped. "After all we've done for you, you..."

"All you've done! You left me to starve and rot by myself in a family of assholes! You expect me to do something for you?!" Naya snarled not caring if she was gonna be deprived of food for at least a week.

"We're giving you an opportunity and you..." her uncle was cut off in his accusations by a now raging teen. "You want to get rid of me! That's what! You only want the money you're getting in this, that's all!" she countered. "I understand now why my mother ran away, you fuckers will just have to marry off Marcelyn or even that bitch of an aunt over there!"

"How dare you! Naya you will do as we say and that's final!" Her aunt thought putting a final note to an argument would end it? She wasn't half done with her rant.

"I never thought sluts could get married," she commented and her uncle stood up. She received a hard slap on the face but that only fueled her hatred more.

"As a member of this family you will follow the rules as long as you live under our roof," he spat through gritted teeth and the glare they received was as cold as ice.

"So be it, I'll leave this place if that's what you want."

With that said, she hurried out of the room and ran upstairs to the first room that reached her line of vision. Naya slammed it shut behind her and locked it, turning around to fall on Arthur's bedroom. Her breathing was the only thing she could hear through her pulsing ears and she slid down the wooden door to the carpeted floor.

A fly flew by and exited through the open window and for one second she wondered about the number of meters seperating the bedroom from the ground.

"No...I can't die, I deserve way better," she whispered rubbing her eyes to not let herself cry. Some tears managed to escape her hard vigilance though and soon enough she ran to a corner to sob and wail as quietly as possible. They couldn't hear her, silencing her weeping was the only way to keep her dignity intact. She turned her head to her cousin's desk and spotted a pair of scissors on some cardboard paper. Arthur had probably been tinkering before all of this mess started. She stood up and let her fingers travel on the smooth metal. It'll be so easy to end this hell but then she would regret it all her afterlife if there was any.

"Now...I'm actually relieved I didn't jump on the road back then..." the brunette whispered. She presumed that could be added to her small list of good decisions. Two in one day, it wasn't so bad was it?

Her eyes switched from the pair of scissors to the black screen of the computer and her eyes spotted a dvd case she had never seen before. She picked it up from under the scattered color pencils and drawings only to let it fall instantly. Her eyes were wide and she looked down at the cover once again, making sure this wasn't some trick created by her already unstable mind.

Aincrad, the floating castle of Sword Art Online. Her cousin Arthur had gotten one of the 10,000 copies. It wasn't suprising now that she thought of it, his parents were millionaires afterall. She lifted her heand and Naya grinned for the first time this evening at the sight of the Nerve Gear neatly resting on the bed. She quickly picked up the case and after making sure the dvd wasn't broken, sat down on the mattress right next to the dvd player connected to Arthur's computer.

Naya fished the manual from one of the drawers and flipped it open to the first page. She looked at the clock and she never thought her timing could be any better.

4:58 PM

"_Welcome to the game manual and settings to configurate your Nerve Gear to your preferances. First you have to know that a Nerve Gear can contain a maximum number of five characters."_

4:59 PM

"_SAO is the first virtual reality game ever created. Put your Nerve Gear on, create a character and experience something never seen before! - opening at 5:00 PM on November 06."_

Naya glanced at the door cautiously and back at the manual.

"Virtual reality...a world where no one knows me..." she whispered. "Oh and what the hell!"

She grabbed the helmet and put it on her head before lying down on the bed with the manual.

"_Plug your dvd player to your computer and make sure your Nerve Gear is fully charged as well as connected to a good power source and secure internet connection. Do the same with your computer or laptop."_

She followed the intructions and lay back down, the book brought up to her face to read the final line.

"_Slide the SAO dvd disk into the appropriate slot and start the link by voice command."_

After sliding the disk and checking everything all over again she searched the book for the words she had to say to start it.

Problem is, there was nothing.

"What? But there's only one manual?" the young teen questioned flipping through the pages. After some time she ended up quitting and just relaxed on the little bed even if her feet were hanging in the air above the wooden plates.

"What am I supposed to shout for the _link_ to _start_?" she groaned in exasperation.

She saw white.

* * *

Me: Please review, constructive comments on my work are very welcomed. Advices are also very appreciated.


	2. II - The Road Of Damnation

Me: Hello everyone, I'm sorry for the wait but now that school is back I need to focus a lot on that. I promise that for the wait I'm gonna try for it to not exceed one month. Maybe three weeks between update and if I'm lucky it'll be much earlier.

COM: Okay now we're reaching the topic of reviews and for the ones that read her other fics you already know she answers them at the beginning and any important notices will be at the top as well.

Me: To summarise everything, reviews and important messages at the top and info less crucial that's still story related will be at the end. Don't worry I'll put a note in bold to warn you guys.

**Atsirk** **Enoh:** **Thank you for posting this review and sadly families like that do exist : (**

**Mister Mastermind:**** Your pen name gave me the creeps at first but it's awesome! Anyway thank you for reviewing and I do understand your confusion, I myself pondered on the idea but I thought that even the kindest of people had to burst someday.**

**Redneckswagger:**** Thank you so much for the support!**

* * *

Okay so here is one of the important messages I talked about and I am posting this on all of my running stories because this is very, very important!

Does anyone know SOPA? If you do, you're probably thinking, "Burn the witch!" if you haven't, you're not alone. I truthfully didn't know about it until just a short while ago when one of the authors I admire called Ranko Twin posted this too.

Let me just say, I was as pissed as her about this. I can say with no exaggeration that this is complete and utter shit and you know why? They block, pursue or throw people in prison for violating copyright laws that don't even exist. I don't make money off of what I write, I'm doing this because I love it like any other person here and I'll be damned if I let something like that happen.

I'll copy and paste exactly what I read and all I ask of you is to please speak up. Don't be afraid; spread the word, because this affects all of us.

* * *

The bill that is threatening to take away our freedoms on the internet is back. Not only back, but it is trying to be passed quietly so nobody notices. SOPA will guarantee that anybody who streams a video, whether it be on youtube, a walkthrough for a video game, or a kid singing a song that is 'copyrighted' they will be treated as a felon. That is one of the highest form of criminal offensives for something as simple as uploading a video game walkthrough on youtube, playing a song with lyrics of your favorite artist and even one we all go on, this one right here.

I am telling everyone this because it affects us all here as Wattpad/FanFiction will being attacked as well. A Wattpad/FanFiction writer can being carted off to a maximum state prison for writing a character from Naruto into their fanfic, or a character from Bleach, or a character from One Piece, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the list is endless. You think I'm exaggerating? I assure you that if this passes it will not be long, not be long at all, because once this passes, then anything goes. Wattpad/FanFiction will be attacked for using canon characters in a fanon manner, authors will be arrested for writing a book whose main character has glasses just like in another series, artists will be arrested and confined for using sapphire blue in the iris of one of their characters like another author. This effect us all and we cannot let it happen.

I figure some of you do not believe me and I can understand. I could be making this up for all you know. But I provided links below to show you I am telling the truth. Simply remove the spaces below, see for yourself.

: / www . huffingtonpost 2013/08/07/unauthorized-streaming-felony_n_3720479 . html

: / www . washingtonpost blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/08/05/sopa-died-in-2012-b ut-obama-administration-wants-to-revive-part-of-it /

: / www . techdirt articles/20130805/12472124074/administration-cant- let-go-wants-to-bring-back-felony-streaming-provis ions-sopa . shtml

: / www . youtube watch?v=1fTt4K4Cae4

We are not as powerless as we might think. We stopped SOPA before and we must do it again. Our stories, our ideas, our passion will be threaten. Everything from this to fan art to youtube is in danger of being gone forever.

I am asking you to spread the word and fight this assault on our freedoms. Because this isn't just going to affect Americans, it will affect everybody across the globe. Tell you friend, have they spread the word so we may stand up to fight this. It is our right as freedom of speech. We are not making money doing what we love, we do it because we enjoy it and want to spread our words, our ideas, our art to everyone who wishes to see it. but we can stop it but only if we stand together. Please my friends, my fellow reader and writers, don't let what we love be nothing but dust in the winds of time.

-Please spread the word and help us be free on the internet like she said we stopped it before lets do it again come darlings lets push SOPA back fight for our freedom!

Rewrite this and post on your story chapters for everyone else to see so we can stop SOPA!

* * *

Scared yet? You should be. Act up! Do something about this! What can you do? Not much sadly, we don't have the power of governments or even lawyers but we do have our freedom of speech and solidarity!

Don't just lie low and pretend that this problem doesn't exist. Because then they will win! And if you have any respect for yourself, I know that you won't let that happen.

If you know this is corrupt and wrong, then pass this message on.

* * *

COM: Well hope you'll enjoy! You guys are very bright so you know this bitch here owns nothing.

Me: Keep hoping people! Maybe someday we might get rights judging by the fanfiction on this site! Or even beat SOPA!

* * *

**Aincrad**

_II – THE ROAD OF DAMNATION_

White. Total infinite white and truthfully Naya would be lying if she said she wasn't overly scared and confused right now. She looked down at the non-existant floor her feet seemed to be standing on and inhaled before taking a tentative step forward. She hadn't noticed her eyes were closed until a flash of light pierced her tightly shut eyelids and they shot open. Her head whipped from side to side but she couldn't distinguish anything out of the ordinary.

_Well_, she thought. _As ordinary as this place can get_.

The brunette felt numbness creeping up her legs and a wave of cold suddenly hit her as her surrounding seemed to drasticly darken. What was happening?

The flash came back but this time several fluorescent colors passed her at a break-neck speed. She managed to notice chains and bodies in the dark background before the white overpowered the darkness. Naya found herself standing infront of a touch screen and even though the room was devoid of color it seemed to her like the blue light eluminated the floor just a little. She decided to simply ignore the fact and her other previous vision to solely focus on the tab frighteningly floating in front of her.

"Come on Naya, you managed to yell at your uncle," she encouraged herself. "You can't be afraid of that."

She instantly regretted bringing the subject back up and she grimaced at the thought of the Percevies. She felt the tears threatening to spill once again but she shook them away in a newfound determination. It was a sign! No more negligence from their part, they'll be forced to acknowledge her!

Although, she would have prefered it to be as the kind victim instead of the rude rebel her outburst portrayed. She lightly touched the smooth surface and realized much to her surprise that she couldn't feel any cold sensation. Was she even there? As Naya took notice of this she also widened her eyes at how light her body felt, like she was a feather slowly being carried by the wind.

The screen suddenly lighted and she yelp in surprise. After cowering away and simply crouching out of fear her head shot up and she hissed at herself.

She was pathetic.

The young fifteen years old girl stood up and walked towards the subject of her annoyance her head held high. However, her body had a different thought about the screen and she found herself being awfully slow. Not to mention her legs were shaking, horribly contrasting witht the confidence still oozing out of her. Finally reaching her destination, she lifted her hand and slammed it on the blue surface succesfully turning it on. Numerous spheres appeared around her, circling her petite frame quite intimidatedly before green letters made their abrupt entrance. "ON" was what she read on all of them and the sound made her head slightly spin. It felt like standing in a giant flipper except all the balls were out and rolling about.

"Welcome to Sword Art Online," a robotic voice greeted and she screamed much to her dismay. As if on cue to her swirling thoughts and rapid heartbeats, the screen straightened up and almost flew right into her stomach. It luckily halted just as she was about to make a run for her life and Naya sighed in exasperation.

"Gender" then appeared on the screen. The game was in english? She exhaled once more at how idiotic that sounded, she of course was aware english was like the most known language around the globe. If that inventor Kayaba Akihiko wanted his game to be worldwide known he had to program it in english. Even if not everyone knew how to speak it fluently and perfectly the simple words used in the instruction guide on the screen she was currently scrolling down made her think a beginner could surely manage. Naya filled the form and carefully proofread before submitting, that is before she had an odd idea. If it was virtual reality why ask for gender? The odd but exellent idea consisted into writing she was a male and see what happens. She usually didn't get ideas like that but who was there to supervise her? The girl did what she previously thought and for once her body complied. It felt good, it was like she was breaking the law for once in her life.

Wait there was skipping classes.

She sighed.

An alarm then roared through the thick nothingness and she screamed once more covering herself along the way. Who cares if she was acting like a crybaby? She was freaking out!

"Gender incorrect."

"..."

"..."

"You got to be freaking kidding me? I ALMOST HAD A HEART ATTACK GOD DAMN IT!"

Naya was starting to wonder if she wasn't just slightly bipolar.

* * *

Naya Percevy was officially bored out of her mind as she just sat there looking back at the screen from time to time. She hadn't dared, wait let's reformulated, her chicken of a body didn't dare to move and refill the form. But if you desire to be overly precise she knew deep inside it was her entire fault.

"Come on Naya...you won't get to play if you don't do something," she muttered and stood up, firmly rooting her feet in front of the touch screen. She lifted her pale hand and started working on her task. When everything was correctly filled, she smiled proud of herself and prepared to hit the submit button with her index already twitching in eagerness.

"I can't do it," she stated and slumped on the ground. The brunette sweared she heard booing in the back of her mind and she sighed. That seemed to occur a lot.

Naya gazed up at the white ceiling and lay her hands on her lap. She was truthfully frightened at the idea of pressing that button since the experience previously endured was still haunting her. But if was her decision wasn't it?

"Looks like my misfortune's back," she said sadly, maybe she should just take the helmet off and go to her room? She opted to do just that and already felt the metal around her head ready to pull it off.

But she couldn't. What if this wasn't the right decision? What if she was mistaken?

The brunette shook her head and stood up, her determination back on even though her body still felt numb. No wanting to stop this sudden surge of confidence, she followed her impulse and pressed the button.

"I did it!" she exclaimed. Maybe she could change, even if that character was far from her current self it could change her into a person that made right decision, she would become more blunt, honest and confident, she...

"Are you sure you want to submit?"

"..."

"..."

"FUCK IT!"

She didn't think and slammed her finger on the green circle angrily. The screen disapeared and was replaced by a character.

"Please create your character," the voice said and she quickly changed her facial features and body. That was her chance to be more womanly and attractive even if the voice of the old Naya in the back of her mind told her lying wasn't right. She would ponder on that later and chose blond as her hair color.

What? Blonds were always considered pretty; it would change from her dull brown locks. She continued her rapid touches and was pleased with the result.

Naya squeeled and twirled around happily. She would surely make interesting encounters in the game even if the purpose of it was more to fight monsters than anything else. Her cheerful attitude soon died as she spotted the name slot.

She was always horrible at choosing names, so uncreative that she even named her once pet Goldfish "Goldy".

"_Hey Naya! Look at ma drawin!" a little Arthur called rushing in his cousin's bedroom. Naya smiled warmly at him and lifted him up to sit on her lap. She peeked at the paper and sweatdropped at the mixture of red and turquoise colors. She thought she even made out beige in it. Her guess was that her barely walking and talking cousin wanted to draw a human._

"_Who is it?" she asked and he beamed._

"_It'th Kite! I saw him on tifi!" he replied. "I yes, the Azure Flame God _(I don't own, it's from .hack)_" she voiced seeming in thought._

The brunette looked at the screen one more time before writing her chosen name.

"My name is Kite," she proclaimed loud and clear only to find herself plunged into the dark. She instantly remembered the vision of the bodies and chains and closed her eyes in fear. When nothing happened, not even the feel on someone clawing her or a zombie eating her up, she dared flutter her eyes open.

Naya made out buildings.

Blink.

She spotted figures.

Blink.

She heard water pouring behind her.

Blink.

She saw walls.

Her green eyes widened, probably the only thing that stayed natural on her, and she stared in awe at all the people appearing around her. She quickly lifted her hand to her hair and felt the silky locks run down her fingers until reaching her bottom. She shook her head repeatedly earning confused gazes from others and Naya simply beamed at them, blushes now tainting the cheeks of the boys around.

"I'm here..." she whispered and dashed out of the main square, into the Town of Beginnings.

* * *

Naya was now walking in the crowded streets her eyes wide in fascination. She probably looked like a creep but she could care less at the moment. She was in a town! In a game! With people she never met to top it all. Normally it was unhealthy to feel so excited at the idea of meeting people in a game and even if she was aware of the fact not a single one looked like their real selves, she was still bubbling with anticipation at the idea of making new friends. The "blond" would also stop at some stalls from time to time and admire the armors and weapons. She now wondered what were her statistics and if they had to finish some "tutorial quests" to earn money or they already had a beginning sum. She decided it was worth checking out and she lifted her hand to bring it down in a swift motion; like the book instructed, the screen appeared.

She examined her character and looked down at her stats, also searching for other informations about her in-game self.

HP: 200

Vigor: 300

Nutrition: 98/100

Oh so she could starve? Naya was impressed by the realism of the game and continued scrolling down unaware of her surroundings. It was a bad idea considering the market was pretty crowded. She actually wondered what "vigor" meant.

Infamy: 0

Dexterity: 7

Stamina: 8

Evasion: 7

External Defence: 5

Critical Hit Defence: 3

Attack Power: 7

Critical Attack Accuracy: 0.6%

Naya stayed rooted to the ground, her eyes slightly wide. Even if she wasn't the best gamer she knew those stats weren't good at all. Even for a beginner it was slightly exaggerated.

Battle Skills

Sprint: 5/1000

Parry: 5/1000

She face palmed. Why didn't she see that coming? She noticed there were other slots that were empty, two to be exact. She thought about what their purpose could be and the title "Life Skills" was quite revealing. Naya sighed and looked around, maybe she could ask the players? With some luck she would fall on one of the beta testers. She nodded to herself and took some steps forward. She spotted a kind-looking girl and decided to just straightly ask her.

What she didn't plan was to stay frozen in the middle of the streets, her determination and confidence slowly leaving her. Her gaze shifted from the girl to the ground and she instantly knew she wouldn't be able to move a single muscle.

"No matter how much I tell myself to take my life in my own hands...I never manage to make the right decisions," she whispered to herself and turned around. Another decision she knew came to add itself to the pile of bad and unproductive ones. She chose to not ask the girl and it was her own fault for deciding to chicken out and leave.

The worst part, is that this girl would never know she had been thought about.

It was always like that.

She walked some more until arriving infront of a booth with a large "I" on a wooden panel. The information desk. Naya smiled a little and moved towards it. That she could do, ask to a NPC for advice.

_I'm so pathetic_.

She stopped infront of a smiling woman formally dressed yet she couldn't help but find something was off in this perfect picture.

That smile...seemed sad and forced.

"Um...excuse me I'd like to know more about this game," she started trying to shake off the strange feeling and focus on her main goal.

"Yes how may I help you?" she politely replied with a slight bow of her head. Naya was sure of it know, she wasn't herself the most cheerful and optimistic person of Earth and being so she knew when someone was holding up a mask. She wasn't too proud of that ability, in the contrary it was one of the things she hated about herself. Some people are very sensitive and thus manage to guess those kind of things but her?

It was simply because she was surely as lonely and miserable as that woman.

"You're a player aren't you? You're too human to be a NPC," she stated out of the blue and the other's eyes widened.

"O-Of course not miss, now did you want to ask for something in particular?" She had quickly brushed away the statement like it was some mistake and Naya could only frown in suspicion at this.

"Yes, are you payed to be a _NPC_?" she asked. "I didn't know you could choose this as a possible career."

"Listen little girl, it's better if you don't poke your nose in my business," the woman adviced harshly but it barely fazed the player. "Now if you're only here to annoy me I suggest you leave."

"What are life skills? How do you increase your statistics?" she instantly inquired not wanting to be rejected because of her curiosity. She did realize she was being rude but she didn't understand why the lady became so irritated all of a sudden.

"Oh! Of course why didn't you say so? Well life skills are like professions, for example fishing, cooking, ..." she explained her expression all sunny and passionate. Her change in character barely surprised Naya though.

After all, she was the same. A good actress.

"I really wonder...what was that woman doing here?"

* * *

Naya was walking around the town, her cheerful attitute no longer fueling her. Maybe she should call it a day and come back tomorrow for the serious stuff? She had mainly wandered around the place seeking for any useful information and of course doing the first quests of the tutorial. For the other ones she needed a weapon and she sadly didn't own one yet. But she guessed buying one wasn't a problem since the money gained during her little adventures seemed to have been planned for the purchase of a sword. The fastest players had already completed every piece of the tutorial but Naya wanted to take her time in this and only try any huge deals when she'll be in a more stable situation.

With that in mind, she nodded to herself and motioned for the menu to appear. She pressed "Log Out" and the darkness soon replaced the town's scenery. She waited patiently for her Nerve Gear to disconnect itself not aware that the darkness around her wasn't normal.

That is, until she spotted several human figures.

She could feel her legs shaking and she lifted her hands to her face. When she finally regained control of her legs she ran in the opposite direction as fast as she could. A figure then appeared right in front of her and she screamed slumping to the ground in fright.

Her eyes shot open and she ripped the helmet off of her head, her hair cascading down her face. Naya inhaled and exhaled repeatedly before looking around. Arthur's bedroom seemed as normal and bright as before and she cautiously stood up. Her legs wobbled at the weight of her trembling body and she grabbed the doorknob, twisting it as she pushed herself against it. She tried tidying herself to the best of her ability but with her current mood she managed to look like she fell out of bed.

It was that or Marcelyn annoying her with the fact that she was such a scaredy cat. She stumbled down the stairs and entered the kitchen to get herself a glass of water. She desperatly needed something fresh to drink or her throat might end up as dry and burn as the Sahara desert.

When her eyes fell on her little _family_, her original thoughts were discarded only to be replace by the memory of the family reunion that didn't end up pleasantly for anyone. She glared as her uncle stood up and Naya straightened herself. She would endure it, he could even slap her if he wanted! She had enough and her outburst was definantly a sign.

She may have doubted it in the game, but the consequences of facing her uncle were a new boost to her already flaming determination.

Naya would end this right now, she would win this argument and change this fate that was obviously not hers. She was the one that always stood on that road planning every detail of her life and she wasn't gonna let someone decide something for her.

Not now, not ever. At least not after all these years of changing her destiny each day on that same street.

"Naya, we're visiting the premises of Cyberdeck and you will meet your future fiancé."

"Okay...I apologize for my despicable behavior uncle. I promise to be good from now on."

Then again, she was too much of a coward for that.

* * *

Me: Review please and I hope that you understand the meaning of the message at the beginning of this chapter.


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